I have three paintings in The Plein Air Perspective, an exhibition opening this weekend at The Millard Sheets Art Center in Pomona. The show will be on view from November 5, 2016 – January 28, 2017. Opening Reception is November 5, 2016 from 5:00-7:00 pm

Okay, while clearly not about painting, this is a project I’ve been working on for some time, which is now finished! So, I thought I’d mention it here. More info can be found at alphamulemusic.com

In January, Eric Stoner and I recorded an album of original songs at WaveLab Studio in Tucson, AZ under the band name Alpha Mule.

Eric and I have been playing music together since 2013, and we’ve each been playing music for decades.

We were fortunate enough to record with some amazing musicians, including Calexico’s Joey Burns and Jacob Valenzuela, who played upright bass and trumpet, respectively.

Joe Forkan

Eric Stoner

Joey Burns

Jacob Valenzuela

Craig Schumacher

Fen Ikner

Chris Schultz recorded the sessions, and WaveLab owner Craig Schumacher mixed the record and played on many tracks, as well.

The music might best be called Americana or alt-country, and is primarily played on acoustic instruments – guitars, banjo, upright bass, drums, trumpet, harmonica, along with some electric guitar, pedal steel, Hammond organ, and Mellotron.

There’s more info at alphamulemusic.com, and the CD, titled Peripheral Vision, is finished, and now available there to stream, purchase or download. It’s also on itunes, amazon, and bandcamp (download), cd baby (CDs & download), and spotify (streaming).

The record will also be available on Vinyl in December (a slower production process, especially given the welcome resurgence of vinyl).

Chris Schultz

Connor Gallaher

Joey Burns & Fen Ikner

Eric Stoner

Joe, Craig & Leo

Steff Koeppen

The player below contains the 10 tracks on the Vinyl record, but not the bonus tracks on the CD. It works on all platforms but iPhone, apparently, but the whole album streams here.

This summer I was invited by Etherton gallery in Tucson to participate in the exhibition: The Artists of Lewis Framing. The exhibition ran from June 7 – August 27th, and showcased the work of seven Tucson artists who work, or have worked, at Lewis Framing Studio, one of Tucson’s preeminent framing establishments.

Back before leaving for graduate school, I worked off-and-on at the studio in Tucson, which is a kind of hub in the local art community. It provided, and still provides, great framing of art and art objects, but it’s also a place where a lot of institutions, museums, galleries, collectors and artists cross paths and connect with each other.

Owner Bea Mason has built a great business and a great resource for the local arts community. She has also created a positive working environment for the artists she employs. She’s very supportive of them and their artistic pursuits, (even after they’ve moved on from the shop for many years, as I have). I am pleased to have been included in this show, and happy that Terry Etherton mounted an exhibition that not only showcases a lot of local Tucson talent, but gives some much deserved credit to Bea Mason for her support of local artists, and the position she holds in the local art community.

The show was a chance to exhibit with artists I’ve known for many years, but have never had the opportunity to show with, and also nice to have another body of work up in Tucson during my Lebowski Cycle exhibition at University of Arizona Museum of Art. Below are the paintings I had in the Etherton show.

My exhibition of the Lebowski Cycle at the University of Arizona Museum of Art ended recently. I got to wrap it up the week before by giving a talk about the work for a nice crowd at the museum. Great to have the work up in Tucson and to see so many old friends at the talk, including my favorite professor from my undergraduate days, Classics professor Dr. David Soren, whose classes I took at UA back in 1987 and 1988! A real treat to catch up with this brilliant man after all that time. (I’m showing my age, because it didn’t occur to me to take a selfie with him…)

UAMA Lecture Joe Forkan 02

The lecture was fun for me, (what’s not to like about talking about painting, and a big body of work I spent 5 years making)? It was much easier, and a lot more effective, to talk about the paintings when they were actually in the room. Talking about paintings from slides somehow does not have the same effect.

Tucson Sky

In my lecture, I was going to explain how growing up in Tucson was responsible for my love of color as a painter. I think the sunsets that whole week explained it a lot better.

UAMA Raft of the Medusa – installation shot

The installation shots really help to give a sense of the scale of these paintings. So much of what I was after here was the impact that the old master narrative paintings have because of their size, their physical presence, which never translates in photos or on the internet.

UAMA Lebowski Cycle Exhibition – installation shot

It was great to have the work up at the University of Arizona, my alma mater, in my hometown. That had a nice symmetry. Thanks to everyone at the Museum, and to everyone who came out for the lecture. Thanks to Eric Stoner for the installation & lecture photos.